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  Your Guide to Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  Landlord-Tenant Law
  
  At some point throughout their lives most individuals will be included with the leasing of property, either as property manager or occupant. Laws that impact landlords and renters can vary significantly from city to city. This handout supplies basic information about being a renter in Illinois. You should talk to an attorney or your town or county as they might provide you with greater security under the law.
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  Tenancy Agreement
  
  The relationship in between property owner and tenant emerges from an arrangement, composed or oral, by which one party occupies the real estate of another with the owner's permission in return for the payment of certain quantity as rent.
  
  Written Agreement: Most tenancies are in writing and are called a lease. No specific words are necessary to create a lease, but typically the regards to a lease consist of a description of the property, the length of the agreement, the amount of the rent, and the time of payment. TIP: You need to put your arrangement in composing to prevent future misconceptions.
  
  Provisions in a lease arrangement that protect a proprietor from liability for damages to individuals or residential or commercial property triggered by the neglect of the landlord are deemed being versus public law and are for that reason unenforceable. Certain towns and counties have other constraints and prohibition on specific lease terms, so you should talk to a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Oral Agreement: If a tenancy arrangement is not in writing, the regard to the agreement will, usually, be thought about a month-to-month occupancy. The period is normally figured out by the frequency of the rental payments. For example: week to week, month to month, or year to year. Although the regards to an oral lease might be challenging to figure out, a celebration may be bound to the regards to an oral arrangement just as much as a written one.
  
  Termination of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement
  
  If a lease is not for a particular term, it might be ended by either party with appropriate notice.
  
  - For year-to-year occupancies, other than a lease of farmland, either party may terminate the lease by giving 60 days of written notice at any time within the 4 months preceding the last 60 days of the lease.
• A week-to-week tenancy might be ended by either party by offering 7 days of written notification to the other celebration.
• Farm leases typically run for one year. Customarily, they begin and end in March of each year. Notice to end should be offered a minimum of four months before completion of the term.
• In all other lease agreements for a period of less than one year, a party must give 1 month of composed notice. Any notification given must require termination on the last day of that rental period.
• The lease might likewise have specified requirements and timeframe for termination of the lease.
• In particular municipalities and counties, landlords are needed to provide more than the above specified notice period for termination. You should seek advice from with an attorney or your town or county.
  
  If the lease does specify a particular expiration or termination date, no termination notice is necessary. Be mindful that your lease may likewise require notification of termination in a specific form or a higher notice duration than the minimum required by law, if any. Landlords should keep in mind that no matter what the lease needs or mentions, you may be needed to give more than the notice period mentioned in the lease for termination and in composing. You need to consult with an attorney or your municipality or county.
  
  Termination of a month-to-month occupancy typically just requires 30 days of notice by tenant and a property manager is needed to serve a composed notification of termination of tenancy on the occupant (see Service on Demand area below). In certain towns and counties, property managers are needed to offer more than 1 month of notice, so you should speak with seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Renewal of the Lease or Tenancy Agreement, Rental Increases
  
  Generally, a lease may be restored at any time by oral or written arrangement of the celebrations. If a lease term expires and the property manager accepts lease following the expiration of the term, the lease term immediately becomes month-to-month based upon the exact same terms set forth in the lease.
  
  The lease might require a particular notification and timeframe for restoring the lease. You should examine your lease to confirm such requirements. Landlords and tenants must note that no matter what the lease requires or mentions, landlords might also have restrictions on how early they can require renewal of a lease by a tenant and are required to put such in writing. You need to consult with a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Month-to-month tenancies instantly renew from month to month up until terminated by either landlord or renter.
  
  Unless there is a composed lease, a proprietor can raise the lease by any quantity by giving the renter notice: Seven days of notice for a week-to-week occupancy, thirty days of notice for a month-to-month occupancy, and 90 days of notice for mobile home parks. In particular towns and counties, property managers are needed to give more than 7 or thirty days of notification of a rental increase, so you need to talk to seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Eviction, Termination of Tenants Right to Possession
  
  In Illinois, a property owner does not have a right to self-help and need to submit an expulsion to remove a renter or resident from the properties.
  
  Five-Day Notice. The most typical breach of a lease is for non-payment of rent. In this case the landlord must serve a five-day notice upon the overdue tenant unless the lease requires more than five days of notice. Five days after such notice is served, the proprietor might begin expulsion procedures against the occupant. If, however, the tenant pays the complete quantity of lease demanded in the five-day notice within those 5 days, the landlord may not proceed with an eviction. The proprietor is not required, nevertheless, to accept rent that is less than the precise quantity due. If the landlord accepts a tender of a lesser amount of rent, it might affect the rights to proceed under the notice.
  
  10-Day Notice. If a landlord wants to end a lease because of an offense of the lease contract by the renter, besides for non-payment of lease, she or he need to serve 10 days of written notification upon the tenant before expulsion procedures can start, unless the lease needs more than 10 days of notice. Acceptance of rent after such notification is a waiver by the proprietor of the right to end the lease unless the breach experienced is a continuing breach.
  
  Holdover. If a tenant stays beyond the lease expiration date, normally, a proprietor may file an expulsion without having to first serve a notification on the occupant. However, the terms of the lease or in particular towns or counties, a proprietor is required to offer a notification of non-renewal to the renter, so you need to seek advice from an attorney or your town or county.
  
  Service on Demand Notice
  
  The five-day, 10-day, or termination of month-to-month tenancy notices might be served upon occupant by delivering a written or printed copy to the occupant, leaving the very same with some person above the age of 13 years who lives at the party's home, or sending a copy of the notification to the celebration by or signed up mail with a return receipt from the addressee. If no one remains in the actual belongings of the facilities, then posting notification on the premises suffices.
  
  Subletting or Assigning the Lease
  
  Often, composed leases prohibit the renter from subletting the properties without the composed consent of the property manager. Such approval can not be unreasonably kept, but the restriction is enforceable under the law. If there is no such restriction, then a tenant might sublease or designate their lease to another. In such cases, however, the tenant will stay accountable to the proprietor unless the property manager releases the original tenant. A breach of the sublease will not change the initial relationship between the property manager and occupant.
  
  Breach by Landlord, Tenant Remedies
  
  If the property owner has breached the lease by stopping working to fulfill their duties under the lease, specific treatments occur in favor of the occupant:
  
  - The tenant might take legal action against the landlord for damages sustained as an outcome of the breach.
• If a property manager stops working to preserve a rented home in a habitable condition, the tenant may have the ability to abandon the facilities and end the lease under the theory of "useful eviction."
• The failure of a property owner to maintain a leased house in a livable condition or comply substantially with local housing codes may be a breach of the proprietor's "implied warranty of habitability" (independent of any composed lease arrangements or oral pledges), which the occupant may assert as a defense to an expulsion based on the non-payment of rent or a claim for reduction in the rental value of the facilities. However, breach by property owner does not automatically entitle a tenant to keep rent or a reduction in the rental worth. The responsibility to pay lease continues as long as the occupant remains in the leased properties and to assert this defense effectively, the occupant will have to reveal that their damages resulting from landlord's breach of this "implied warranty" equivalent or go beyond the lease declared due.
  
  A landlord's breach and tenant's damages may be tough to show. Because of the minimal and technical nature of these rules, tenants need to be exceptionally careful in withholding lease and needs to most likely do so only after speaking with an attorney.
  
  Please note that particular municipalities or counties attend to specific commitments and requirements that the landlord must carry out. If a proprietor fails to comply with such commitments or requirements, the tenant may have additional remedies for such failure. You need to seek advice from with a lawyer or your municipality or county.
  
  Breach by the Tenant, Landlord Remedies
  
  In addition to termination for certain breaches by renter, a property owner also has the following treatments:
  
  If rent is not paid, the property owner may: (1) demand the rent due or to end up being due in the future and (2) terminate the lease and collect any previous lease due. Under particular scenarios in case of non-payment of lease the proprietor may hold the furniture and individual residential or commercial property of the renter up until previous rent is paid by the tenant.
  
  If a tenant fails to vacate the leased premise at the end of the lease term, the renter may become accountable for double rent for the period of holdover if the holdover is considered to be willful. The tenant can also be forced out.
  
  If the occupant harms the facilities, the property owner might demand the repair work of such damages.
  
  Please note that particular municipalities or counties supply for specific responsibilities and requirements that the occupant must meet. If a tenant fails to abide by such obligations or requirements, the property manager might have extra remedies for such failure. You should seek advice from a lawyer or your town or county.
  
  Discrimination
  
  Under the federal Fair Housing Act and Illinois law, it is illegal for a proprietor to discriminate in the leasing of a residence home, flat, or home versus prospective occupants who have kids under the age of 14. It is likewise unlawful for a proprietor to discriminate versus a tenant on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, income source, sexual origination, gender identity, or special needs.
  
  Down Payment, Move-in Fee
  
  Down payment. A tenant can be needed to deposit with the property manager a sum of money prior to inhabiting the residential or commercial property. This is normally described as a security deposit. This money is deemed to be security for any damage to the premises or non-payment of rent. The down payment does not alleviate the occupant of the responsibility to pay the last month's rent or for damage caused to the properties. It should be gone back to the occupant upon abandoning the premises if no damage has actually been done beyond regular wear and tear and the rent is totally paid.
  
  If a property manager fails to return the down payment immediately, the occupant can take legal action against to recover the part of the security deposit to which the tenant is entitled. In some towns or counties and certain scenarios under state law, when a landlord wrongfully withholds a tenant's security deposit the occupant might have the ability to recuperate extra damages and lawyers' costs. You ought to talk to a lawyer.
  
  Generally, a property owner who receives a security deposit may not withhold any part of that deposit as settlement for residential or commercial property damage unless he furnishes to the tenant, within thirty days of the date the renter vacates, a declaration of damage allegedly triggered by the occupant and the approximated or real cost of repairing or replacing each item on that declaration. If no such declaration is provided within 1 month, the property manager should return the down payment completely within 45 days of the date the occupant vacated.
  
  If a building contains 25 or more residential systems, the property manager must also pay interest on the deposit from the date it was paid, if held more than 67 months. Interest is computed at the rate paid by the largest bank in Illinois, as determined by total possessions, on a passbook security account.
  
  The above declarations relating to security deposits are based upon state law. However, some municipalities or counties may enforce additional commitments. For example, Cook County, Evanston, Chicago, and Oak Park all have extra requirements that a proprietor must abide by when taking security deposits and supply high penalties when a landlord stops working to comply.
  
  Move-in Fee. In addition to or as an option to a down payment, a proprietor might charge a move-in fee. Generally, there are no specific restrictions on the quantity of a move-in charge, nevertheless, certain towns or counties do provide limitations. TIP: A move-in cost needs to be nonrefundable, otherwise it might be considered to be a security deposit.
  
  Landlord and tenant matters can end up being complex. Both landlord and tenant should consult a lawyer for assistance with specific problems. To learn more about your rights and duties as a renter, including specific landlord-tenant laws in your municipality or county, contact your regional bar association, or visit the Illinois Tenants Union at www.tenant.org.
  
  Additional Resources
  
  - Illinois Lawyer Finder: isba.org/public/illinoislawyerfinder
• Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO): illinoislegalaid.org
• Illinois Standardized Court Forms: illinoiscourts.gov/ approved-forms.
• Illinois Court Help: ilcourthelp.gov.
• Illinois Free Legal Answers: il.freelegalanswers.org
  
  Prepared by the Illinois State Bar Association's Real Estate Law Section (2024 )
  
  This handout is prepared and published by the Illinois State Bar Association as a public service. Every effort has been made to supply accurate details at the time of publication.